"Are you ready?" Mara asked. Zavala nodded. Some of his skills had declined over the years, some had improved, and he liked to think giving speeches was one of the latter. When Mara turned the broadcast on, he began to speak, knowing the signal was amplified so people all over the system could hear him. "Survivers of this dark war," He began, "The Darkness has dealt humanity blow after blow, but we are not beaten. We stand strong, and the Traveller among us. The Darkness may never be fully beaten, and there will always be Darkness within us, but there is Light also. What choice do we have but to stand and fight? "Like in the Dark Ages, Humanity has been scattered throughout the solar system. But like in the Dark Ages, we are regrouping. If you are listening, and you are able, make your way to the Reef. Queen Mara Sov has opened her doors to us until a time when we are gathered together and strong enough to take back our City. "Furthermore, this invitation is not for humans only. It is for the humans, the awoken, Reefborn or Earthborn, the exo, the Eliksni and the Cabal. We are building a new council with representation from these and guardians alike. Any who would follow the ways of the Traveler are offered a chance to join us in rebuilding civilization and taking back our system- [i]all[/i] of our system, and banish all those who chase blood, destruction, and Darkness from it. I ask you to help us. If every one of us works together, I know we will see the sun rise on another age. We will see the sun rise on a world of Guardians, Humans, Awoken, Exo, Eliskni, Cabal, any who seek the good in their hearts! "The Traveler did not leave us because it was afraid. It left us because we became unworthy, because we embraced Darkness- not the physical powers of Darkness, but the Darkness in our hearts. It cut us off from the Light to remind us what it is we should chase. Now it has given us a sign. The Traveler hangs low over Earth again. That is where we shall make our next battle. That is where we shall build our next home. It will be a long, difficult journey, but we were made to endure. Look at what we've already endured! "This time, instead of taking back a scrap of territory and hiding there, we won't stop until we've wiped out the Darkness. We won't stop until our children can live without fear, until we can explore without attack, until we can look into the stars and say, 'This is our second Golden Age, and the future is bright.' This time, we won't stop until the job is finished." ________________________________________ Mara sent Petra a message to let her know that the Traveler was here to stay, Crow was welcome to stay in the Reef, and Zavala and some of the other surviving guardians had decided that they all needed to work together to rebuild humanity, as one new civilization. They would make a Council, and Mara would be on it, as well as Zavala, Lord Shaxx, Kenzie and Oliver, two other Iron Lords called Saladin and Efrideet, Empress Caitl, Misraaks, and Variks, plus a human leader when the humans had banded together enough to select one. Petra was also invited to be on it as Mara's second in command. She worried that Crow would be hurt that he hadn't been invited, but she talked to him about it and he thought it was better for only one of them to be on it so one of them could stay home with the kids, and that as a younger guardian, it made sense for them to want guardians who had survived since the Dark Ages to be on it. She let Mara know that she would be happy to join. "Family and fieldwork," Petra murmured to Crow later that night. "It's going to be perfect." "Just don't get hurt, baby." "I'll do my best." ________________________________________ Late that night, Thora woke up after another painful dream of Riven. She decided to sit by the window and draw. She had a big bay window with a window seat, and it was a very cozy place to sit and draw. It would probably be a good idea to talk to her parents and Queen Mara about Riven. Now that she wasn't being helpful, she needed to block her out. She needed to learn how to keep Riven out of her dreams, even if it meant training as a techeun, which she knew Mama didn't want her to do. Thora wanted to do it. It seemed interesting. She glanced out the window and saw her parents, sneaking out toward the lake holding hands, and what looked like towels. Thora closed the window-blinds and pulled the curtains over them. Whatever they were up to, she decided she didn't want to know. She was happy. Ever since she was little she'd known that bad things were coming. Maybe there wasn't any such thing as a happy ending, because how could anything be happy if it had to end? Thora knew the battle was far from over, but this time, she knew they had a chance. She didn't have to be afraid anymore. She didn't have to hide. Her whole family had made it to the other side, and they were together again. As long as they were together, everything would be alright. [i]The End.[/i]